


broken kids aren’t always lost causes

by bexgempisces



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anorexia, Anxiety, Child Abuse, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Gen, I wish I was kidding, M/M, Nat had a shitty childhood, Nearly Everyone is Gay, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Self-Harm, but her and Wanda are cute, cute fluff at points I swear, daisys super smart so yknow just go with it, girls hyping up other girls, lots of swearing, no it gets really shitty for Daisy, so did Clint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27251971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexgempisces/pseuds/bexgempisces
Summary: A new girl shows up in math class and Wanda falls hard. Who is Daisy Johnson and how will she fit in at Carter High?
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Bobbi Morse/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Pietro Maximoff, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff/Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 88





	1. the new girl in algebra

**Author's Note:**

> I was bored so I started writing this and uh yeah I fell in love with it. 
> 
> Literally most of the characters are lgbt and I love it. Daisy’s pretty damaged, so is Nat, Fitz, Tony, the list goes on, but they’re all besties and it’s so amazing I love it. 
> 
> Also I’m scottish so if some of the like school curriculum is wrong then feel free to correct me, I’m relying on google currently. They’re in sophomore year tho.   
> Enjoy! -bex xx

Wanda stills her tapping pencil as a girl walks through the door of her Algebra 1 class. Not an uncommon occurrence but this girl....

She was the most beautiful thing Wanda had ever seen. 

She was mixed, Asian-American if she had to guess, dark hair and dark eyes, a frown on her features as she surveyed the class, turning to a smirk as she noticed Wanda staring. Wanda snapped her eyes away and forced herself to look at the trigonometry on the board. 

“You must be Daisy.” Mr Radcliffe said and the girl nodded. She clutched at her backpack straps and walked over to his desk. 

“Yeah, transfer student.” She said, her accent a strange mix of American accents. New York mixing with New Jersey mixing with Tennessee and Idaho. It suggested someone who’d moved around a lot, which intrigued her. Most kids at the school were from the town, St Cloud, Minnesota, born and bred and all that bullshit. So far, her and Pietro and Nat were the only “strangers” the school knew. But now there was this girl. 

“Transferred from where?” Radcliffe asks and Daisy stiffens, muscles in her back tending causing her to stand straight. Her hands clench around her worn backpack straps, knuckles turning white. She’s either nervous or angry but Wanda’s scared for her anyway. Radcliffe isn’t the best at reading social cues, which is why kids like Fitz or Simmons or Banner like him, but kids like Wanda or Nat hate him. 

“Wyoming.” She says it like a curse, a dirty word she doesn’t want to say, but has been forced to. Radcliffe must finally sense her tension because he nods and looks at the seating plan. 

“There’s a spare seat beside Miss Maximoff, third row, fourth seat. We can catch up after class and see where you are.” Daisy nods and turns to face the class again, schooling her features in blank mask. Walls are being put up, she is shutting the world out. Wanda knows that trick well. 

Daisy walks down the aisles of the seats until she reaches the empty seat next to her, offering a smile before sitting down and removing a blue notebook from her bag. 

“I’m Wanda.” She eventually forces herself to say and Daisy smirks, looking at her directly. Her eyes are this beautiful chocolate brown, eyes you could get lost in. She seems to look right into Wanda’s soul in that moment, calculating eyes but they eventually hold warmth. 

“Daisy Johnson.” She says, “What are we on?” She shrugs off her black hoodie, it’s old and definitely five sizes too big for her. She’s wearing a worn, “The Who” band shirt, which is actually a band Wanda has heard of so push comes to shove, she can talk about something without putting her foot in her mouth in front of this incredibly pretty girl. Daisy’s wearing a long sleeve shirt under her shirt, which is kind of weird because it’s September and it hasn’t really gotten cold yet, but Wanda’s not really one to judge. 

“Uh, quadratics. I’m kinda lost, I suck at math.” Wanda admits, cheeks heating up as she takes in Daisy’s smirk. 

“We’d just started that at my old school. At least I think we did, I wasn’t there a lot.” Daisy looks down when she says it, face filled with shame and something that looks like fear before she schools her features again and offers a smile. “We can help each other.” 

Wanda just nods a little dazedly because the new girl, the prettiest girl she’s pretty sure she’s ever seen, is talking to her. Suggesting they become friends. How did this happen? 

“What period do you have lunch?” Wanda asks and Daisy checks the obnoxiously bight pink schedule, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tries to work out the periods. 

“Uh, fourth, I think.” She says eventually and Wanda grins. 

“Same as me! You can sit with us if you wanted to.” Anything to keep the girl talking. Daisy seems like she’ll fit in with her group, at least she hopes she will.

“I’d like that thanks.” Daisy gives a real, proper smile then and Wanda is pretty sure it’s the cutest thing she’s ever seen. Jesus, she just met the girl and she’s developing a crush. 

“And that brings us back to quadratics!” Radcliffe calls from the front and a collective groan rings out before they settle back to work. 


	2. welcome to the Gay Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first lunch time (Daisy’s pov)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: there’s quick mentions of a self harm/self help technique of flicking a rubber band against your wrist and alludes to child abuse 
> 
> Enjoy! -bex xx

Okay, she’s definitely had worst first days. Like four schools ago, back in New York, she got mixed up in a bit of a turf war and got kicked out the next week because Palamas had decided to leave her at the last minute and she was caught with a can of spray paint. She didn’t think she’d get expelled for that but trouble seems to follow her wherever she goes. 

But today has been okay. 

Algebra was piss easy but Wanda was cute and she didn’t want to scare off her only friend by being freakishly good at math, that never ended well. But Geography was sorely lacking in cute girls and instead brought her Grant Ward, who she could just tell was going to be a pain in her ass. Computer Science did however, bring a Russian red head called Natasha, who was apparently friends with Wanda and also suggested she sat with them at lunch. So, score one Daisy Johnson. 

The cafeteria at Carter High is scarily similar to every other cafeteria in every other school in America. Sometimes she wishes her parents hadn’t died in that fire in her village in China, a place she doesn’t even remember, all she remembers is a burning smell and cold hands. It’s not her most pleasant memory. Still, school in Hunan might have been a lot more interesting than the twenty schools she’s been to in the States. 

It’s loud and cramped and reeks of BO and shitty school pizza, but she’s saving the lunch money the Malick’s gave her anyway, so she’s sticking with her granola bar and Red Bull. She keeps a stash nowadays. 

The Malick’s are hard to read at the minute. She knows it’s a publicity stunt, Nathaniel Malick is some big shot politician running for senator and his PA thought it might be a good idea to foster a kid to appeal to the public. His wife was a drunk and barely ever there, Daisy is pretty sure she’s sleeping with the housekeeper but silence is money, and she knows the game. They’ve got an adult daughter who’s a socialite and a freeloader but mostly stays out of the way, and a delightful son in junior year. James Malick is an asswipe and Daisy gets the creeps around him with the way he stares at her over the dinner table so she’s planning to avoid him. But so far, she’s avoided them and they’ve kinda pretended she doesn’t exist. She prefers it that way. 

She eventually finds Wanda and Natasha at a table in the back of the cafeteria. They’re sitting with a group of kids, comfortably laughing and having fun with each other. She already feels like an outsider. 

“Hey! Daisy, you made it!” Wanda spots her and Daisy forces a smile on her face. It’s just another group of kids she’ll inevitably leave behind, she shouldn’t really care what they think. 

But she wants them to like her. She wants this placement to stick because she likes Carter High and she likes Wanda and Natasha. She likes her classes and she doesn’t want to impact her future any more than she already has. She wants this to work. 

“Hi.” She says and she is met with seven pairs of eyes. She shrinks a little and plays with the rubber band on her wrist, before sitting in the seat next to Wanda and some blonde guy. 

“Everyone, this is Daisy. Please be nice and don’t scare her off, she’s amazing at computer shit and I’m kinda failing.” Natasha says and the brunette boy across from the blonde dude next to her shrugs in a way that means “no promises”. 

“Well, you already know Wanda, so this is her twin, Pietro and his boyfriend and my idiot best friend, Clint.” Natasha points to the blonde guy next to her, Clint, wearing a purple shirt and hearing aids. A bleach blonde boy sits next to him and now that she looks, him and Wanda are really similar. Same gorgeous blue eyes, same nose, same easy smile. 

“And next to you is Steve and across from him is his little genius boyfriend Tony.” The brunette boy, Tony, smirks and holds out his hand which Daisy fist bumps instead of shakes because they’re sixteen, who the fuck shakes hands? 

“Where’d you move from?” He asks and Daisy flinches a little. She hated Wyoming, the Von Strucker family weigh heavily on her mind, another hospital visit to add to the file. She hopes Werner Von Strucker rots in jail for the rest of his life. 

“Wyoming.” She eventually says, not meeting anyone’s eyes. 

“And this is Bobbi, my girlfriend.” Natasha must sense her tension because she moves on to introduce her to the blonde girl sitting next to her. Bobbi gives her a smile and she finds herself smiling back. 

“Play any sports?” Bobbi asks and recieves a playful tap from Natasha. 

“You don’t have to recruit everyone to your multitude of teams, babe.” Natasha giggles and Bobbi blushes but presses on.

“We’re down a defender on the girls soccer team, you wouldn’t happen to play?” Bobbi asks and Daisy nods. Bobbi genuinely cheers and gives her a high five. 

“Welcome to the team. We practice Wednesdays, Thursdays, after school. Two hours on Saturdays. First games in two weeks.” 

“Seriously, just like that? I didn’t even try out!” Daisy laughs, but honestly she’s glad. She loves soccer, she played at most of the schools she’s been in. It’s the only time she can literally let everything go. Track, as well. 

“So, what part of town did you move to?” She’s getting the feeling that Tony is a bit of a nosy asshole. 

“Uh, Westbrook.” 

“That’s right down the street from us!” Wanda says and Pietro nods. “You can walk with us.” 

She smiles and turns to the incredibly pretty girl beside her. 

“So, everyone here seems to be dating someone else. What about you?” Daisy teases and Wanda turns an even brighter shade of pink. It’s adorable. 

“No one at the minute. I’m pan, though. Just in case you were wondering.” Wanda says and Daisy quirks an eyebrow. Always good to know. 

“Ah yes, I forgot. Welcome to the little Gay Avengers. All of us are part of the worst kept secret club in the world.” Steve said and gave her a smile. He’s definitely a football captain or something, he just has that air to him. He also kinda looks like Captain America from those old cartoons, maybe he’s got a shield in that backpack. Jesus, it’s even red, white and blue. 

“Yep, Tasha’s a big ole lesbian, Bobbi’s bi, me, Clint and Bruce, if he ever gets here are gay, Steve and Pietro are bi, and that just leaves you.” Tony tells her and Daisy struggles to keep up. 

“Oh, uh, I’m bi.” 

“Score, we’re really upping our diversity levels guys!” Tony exclaims and Natasha throws a fry in his face. 

“Shut up, svolach.” (Сволочь - jerk) Natasha says and Tony pouts. 

“No need for the scary Russian curses my dude.” He moans and Steve very tenderly runs his arm which Daisy snorts at. 

“We’re gonna head to the skate park after school, eat some junk and whatever, you wanna come?” Clint offers and Daisy mentally checks to make sure the Malick’s haven’t set any curfews. They haven’t so she figured it’s okay and nods. 

“Okay, now for the most important initiation question. Did you go through an emo phase or a horse girl phase?” Clint asks very seriously and Daisy has to study him to make sure he’s serious. 

“Obviously an emo phase. MCR was my shit like three years ago.” She answers and it’s clearly the right response because she’s passed the bag of Cheetos they’re sharing and declines because she hates Cheetos but appreciates none the less. 

“Hey, we have English together next right?” Wanda asks her and Daisy nods, checking the garishly pink schedule she is so used to seeing multiple times a year. 

“Yeah, Miss Carter? What’s she like?” 

“She’s really cool actually, she’s the school’s founders great niece or something, but she’s really nice.” Wanda promises and Pietro nods. 

“I had her last year, she’s great. Got me an A.” 

“Ugh please, you had the biggest crush on her before you got with Clint.” Wanda reveals and Daisy giggles, getting a soft grin from Wanda that she practically melts at. 

Jesus, she’s known this girl for four hours and she’s already crushing. She flicks the rubber band against her wrist under the table for when thinking that way. Who would like her like that? 

The bell rings and she heads to English with Wanda and Bobbi and prays that the next few months go as smoothly as this first day has.


	3. in which, Nathaniel Malick is a dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy’s newest foster home really isn’t going well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: child abuse, gaslighting, self harm(graphic), self loathing

Unfortunately, that good feeling that had been building inside Daisy shattered the minute she got back to the house. 

Not home. Never home, not for her. She’s just an outsider. 

But she wasn’t today. She’d been accepted into the fold, which was strange because that  _ never  _ happened. No one wanted to be friends with the new kid. But Wanda’s group had, they’d invited her into their conversations, her and Bobbi had bonded over soccer, they’d all had fun at the skate park. She’d even gotten Wanda’s number. 

And damn, that girl was cute. Daisy is pretty sure she’s never liked someone this quickly, she’d learned the hard way not to trust so easily. But Wanda made it easy, with her sapphire eyes and perfect lips....

_Stop daydreaming, Daisy. She’d never like someone as fucked up as you_. 

Daisy flicks the band against her wrist just to remind herself. The band was her way of coping lately. She’d had to during the summer in Wyoming, when it was too hot for long sleeves and she couldn’t hide the cuts so easily. The rubber band worked for a while, but she was already picturing the razor blade in her drawer....

“What time do you call this?” Shit. Nathaniel Malick, her newest foster father was waiting at the door when she opened it. 

“Sorry, sir, you didn’t set a curfew. I was just out with some kids from school.” She’d learned not to fight back anymore, unless they got too handsy. It wasn’t worth it anymore. 

“You should have text James. You ask in future if you wish to stay out. He said you were with the Stark boy.” Malick had that evil glint in his eye that mixed with anger. It was terrifying. 

“Tony? Yeah, he’s friends with the Maximoff’s. He’s cool.” Daisy said, daring to look him the eye. 

“Howard Stark is my biggest rival right now. You’re not to talk to his son, or those brats from the Czech Republic. They’re all bad news.” 

“I’ll hang out with whoever I want to.” She said defiantly. Who the fuck was he to tell her who she could talk to? He didn’t own her, he was just a foster dad. 

That was a mistake because a second later his fist is colliding with her jaw. She sees stars as she reels back and he towers over her. 

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ speak to me like that again. Take this as a warning, stay away from the freaks and my hand won’t end up wrapped around your throat. Go to your room.” 

Well, she didn’t need to be told twice. She practically ran up the stairs, slamming into her room and placing a chair under her door because there’s no lock. Her jaw ached and her eyes were watering but she wasn’t going to give him the fucking satisfaction of making her cry. 

She deserved it, didn’t she? She’d talked back, messed up. She always deserved it, she’d learned that a long time ago. It was never going to change, it was just bad foster home after bad foster home. The only thing that changed was the state, the name and the house. 

Her jaw throbs and there’s definitely going to be bruise later, she’ll have to pull out the concealer again. If anyone asks then it was an accident, she walked into a door, dropped her phone on her face, ball hit her in the face during practice. If the excuse was her fault then maybe she could convince herself the punch was too. 

Regardless, ten minutes later there’s a blade in her hand and blood on the sheets. Fresh deep welts on her forearm that remind her that she is nothing, just a punching bag or a publicity stunt. Every bruise and broken bone and fucking scar is her fault. She’s so fucking tired of this, this seemingly endless cycle but she’s stuck and she can’t move. 

_ — hey, it was great hanging out with you! Me and Pietro can walk you to school tomorrow if you want? Wxxx  _

She smiles a little when she reads the text from Wanda, god the girl was cute. But then she suddenly remembers the blood and the razor in her hand and she smiles a little less. 

She’s broken, remember? Unwanted and unloved. She has to remember that before she destroys Wanda too. 

_ — sure, sounds great, see you tomorrow DJx _

Long sleeves again tomorrow and a freshly bruised jaw. 

Fuck. 


	4. wanda has a gay panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally just a chapter of Wanda being obsessed with Daisy in soccer practice.

Daisy comes to school the next day with a bruise on her jaw. She tells Wanda that it was just an accident and Wanda is pretty sure she’s lying. Her mood is darker today, eyes downcast and earphones blaring music more often than not. 

Long sleeves again, even though it’s warm outside. 

But she doesn’t want to upset her, this is the first girl she’s liked since her embarrassingly long crush on Nat before Nat got with Bobbi and Wanda realised she wasn’t really in love with Nat. More infatuation than love. 

But with Daisy, it feels different. She notices  _ everything _ , every little smile and shit-eating grin when she succeeds in making Wanda blush, the way she drew Chinese characters in her notebook instead of taking notes in History, but she still got an A on the first test, the way she flinched every time a locker was slammed. It was like someone cast a spotlight on Daisy Johnson, she was all Wanda could see. 

“Hey, Wanda? You want help with that?” Daisy whispers, having noticed Wanda’s been stuck on the same freaking quadratic for ten minutes. Daisy’s own questions are done and the entire next page. 

“You seem rather good at math, for someone who missed a lot of school.” Wanda replies but happily lets Daisy complete the problem along with a guide for how to do others like it. 

“Math is easy. It’s like computer code, it just fits in my brain. Like pieces of a puzzle, the rules never change.” Daisy replies, giving her a soft grin as she gives her back her composition book. 

* * *

Wanda is pretty sure that Daisy Johnson is the prettiest girl she’s ever seen. Right now however, she’s pretty sure that Daisy is the hottest girl she’s ever seen, charging up the football field during drills. Her long hair is swept into a ponytail at the crown of her skull, swinging wildly as she sprints with the other girls. 

_ Note to self Wanda, don’t agree to wait for Daisy to finish practice. Especially not when she’s wearing short shorts.  _ Seriously, those things should be a crime. 

An hour later, an agonising hour of pretending to be studying every time Daisy caught her eye during practice, Bobbi calls time and Daisy comes running over. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realise it was going to last so long.” Daisy apologises between gulps of water from her Gatorade bottle, letting her hair cascade down her shoulders and Jesus Christ, does this girl know what she’s doing to Wanda? 

“Oh, it’s okay. I got some homework done.” Wanda says, trying not to stare at Daisy’s toned legs as she slides on a pair of sweatpants. She slides her hoodie over her long-sleeve athletic top and offers Wanda a hand, her practice bag in the other. 

“So, where did you wanna study?” Daisy had agreed at lunch to help tutor her in math, much to the annoyance of Stark who’d been pissed that the new girl was better at math than him. 

“Library shuts at five and it’s currently six. We can do your place or mine?” 

“Uh, what about that Denny’s on Main Street?” Daisy said nervously, hands gripping tighter to her bag strap. 

“Yeah that works as well.” Wanda smiled. Daisy and Pietro would get on like a house on fire, he loved the place. 

“Cool, well Miss Maximoff, are you ready to delve deep into the world of pancakes and polynomials?” 

_As long as it’s with you, I’m good with anything_. 

“Can’t wait.” 


End file.
